Derriére un masque
by rs-yorkie
Summary: Forgotten by the world save to a select few, Naruto leads an anbu squad, trying to forget the past. However with the arrival of old faces and a plot which threatens everyone, can Naruto cope with his emotions and protect whats dear to him. Mature Naruto.
1. Information to the story

A word from the author, and information about the story

Okay, I'm going to put a brief synopsis of the characters etc which appear in this fic because there are details I'm sure you'd like to know which wont necessarily be included. This includes a brief bio about the main characters, the background of the fic and how it differs from the manga.

Background:

This story is set after about 7-8 years after the Sasuke retrieval arc in the manga. As you will see, Naruto is successful in brining Sasuke back. After that it's completely my own device.

It features Naruto etc in their early twenties. Furthermore, it would be prudent to say that Naruto is out of character. This isn't to say that he's completely lost everything which makes Naruto Naruto, but he is far far far more mature than seen in the manga, and he certainly doesn't stick to two techniques. However, I am not suggesting that he's godlike in his powers, for instance, there isn't a chance in hell that he's going to kill 500 enemies with a simple stare.

It'd be good to point out that this is a mature fic, and will have a lot of more than bad language and sexual scenes/references. As such, if you like reading stories which include that sort of stuff, or just here for a quick wank then this fic is for you. If you're about eight years old and easily offended I couldn't give a fuck if you read it or not, but bear in mind that it might corrupt your fragile little mind.

Anbu setup

It came to me that it'd be a good idea to explain how the anbu system in this fic works as it differs from that in the manga.

Essentially there are sixteen captains, one commander general, and then vice captains etc.

The anbu live in a apartment complex type thing on the borders of Konoha, which is incredibly spacious.

Anbu teams are made out of 4 immediate members. In team nines case. Naruto (captain) Hinita (vice captain) then Sachie and Keiko.

Immediate members don't have to live together, though it is recommended that they do.

These four members only answer to their captain and the commander general, and don't necessarily have to take orders from any other captain, (though they'll probably get the shit kicked out of them if they don't)

After that, there are the regular members. These are the anbu who answer to anyone above them in rank, and havn't been assigned a team. As a result they go on missions with various members of the immediate teams.

There are around 150 regular members and 64 immediate members.

Bios:

Naruto:

Age: 21

Appearance: Long blonde hair that reaches his mouth, It's lost most of it's spiky-ness that he had when we was young, though still retains a portion. When not dressed in standard anbu uniform (fox mask), Naruto for the most part wears; a tight black v neck top, black trousers and shin high open toe boots. (kind of like the ones Sakura wears but shorter). He always keeps his sword with him, tied at the back of his waist at a perfect horizontal angle.

Rank: Captain

Qualities: Unnaturally fast, and a master with the sword. His elemental dispositions are Wind, Earth, Water, with a slight skill with fire techniques.

Hinita

Age: 21

Appearance: Medium length deep purple hair, and very white skin. Incredibly slender, but curvy. When not dressed in Standard anbu uniform (bear mask) she has a tendency to wear bright floral dresses which reach her ankles though will sometimes opt for dark polo necks or v neck jumpers.

Rank: Vice captain

Qualities: As all Hyuuga, she is incredibly good with taijutsu, with just above average skills as a medic nin. Her scouting ability is unparalleled.

Sachie:

Age: 19

Appearance: Almost insulting red hair which is quite long. When not in standard anbu uniform (Weasel mask) She prefers to wear knee high skirts with some sort of tights and tight t-shirts, favouring reds and yellows

Rank: Immediate member

Qualities: A good all round fighter, perhaps leaning a bit more towards sword play and taijutsu. Her elemental dispositions are Earth, Fire and Electricity.

Keiko:

Age: 20

Appearance: Very black short hair, (much like Zabuzas' or Rikimarus' if any of you play Tenchu.) When not in standard anbu uniform (seal mask), he prefers to wear dark long sleeve tops and jeans with some sort of ridiculous hat.

Rank: Immediate member

Qualities: The only known person in Konoha who can use hyoton techniques (ice). As such keiko's background is completely unknown (as of yet). With this comes dispositions to Water and Wind elements, though he rarely uses wind. Like Naruto, he also has a sligh disposition towards Fire element.

The commander general:

Age: Unknown. Late thirties?

Appearance: Standard anbu uniform with a ravens mask.

Rank: Commander of all the anbu

Qualities: Unknown

Sakura:

Age: 21

Appearance: While not dressed in standard anbu uniform (mask unknown as of yet) Sakura has medium length pink hair, and prefers floral pink kimonos

Rank: Trainee..

Qualities: An outstanding medical ninja, with unbelievable strength.

Sasuke:

Age: 22

Appearance: Hair much the same as it is prior to chapter 400+. When not dressed in standard anbu uniform (mask unknown as of yet) Sasuke prefers white collared shirts with jeans or black kimonos

Rank: Trainee..

Qualities: Very fast speed, with an excellent knowledge of swordplay. Possessor of the Sharingan, and as such very talented with genjutsu. Elemental disposition is Fire and Electricity.

A final word:

I will very rarely put in 'authors notes' or anything like that into the coming chapters, so I'd like to take this bit to say what's usually said in authors notes.

Review or die.

Give me criticism! Also, if you see me fuck up anywhere with my spelling, punctuation grammar etc, give me a hard kick up the arse and tell me about it on a comment, and I'll rectify it as soon as possible.

Also, I always draft the chapters with a pen and paper first, so update times might be abit slow. But I'm on my gap year so I can devote a lot of time to this. I plan to make it truly epic.

I'm probably not going to focus much on fighting, and have drawn out battles. In all honestly they bore me rigid, so while there will be plenty of combat scenes, don't expect them to be long and destructive. This story will focus far more on character development, and emotions etc.

As a final note, I do have a general idea where this story is going to go (namely I know how it's going to end) but other than that, I'm making it up as I write it. So again, if you see me taking a somewhat digressing route with this, kick me up the arse and tell me in a review.

Cheers.


	2. Chapter one

A door creaked open, while an expectant face turned from her cooking smiling as a young man in his early twenties entered the room. The man was dressed in standard anbu uniform, with a mask resembling a graceful fox covering his face, though the it didn't hide the long, sort of spiky blonde hair tumbling all over the place.

"How was the meeting Naruto?" Hinita asked, returning to the now boiling pan of water. She was dressed in a long red skirt which reached her ankles, and a tight v-neck black top, the dark hues contrasting greatly with the vivid white of her slender neck, and her curving shoulders.

"Understandably tedious" Naruto replied. " I've never known a simple escort mission to be so boring." Naruto stripped from his anbu armour and went to cuddle Hinita; she sighed as she felt Naruto's lips gently brush the surface of her cheek.

"Oh for fuck sake, do you to ever stop?" A voice asked from a doorway to the left. "I know anu teams are supposed to live together and everything, but this is just fucking ridiculous."

"It's always nice to see you too Sachie" Naruto said pulling away from his girlfriend. Sachie was young girl at nineteen years, gifted with shocking red hair and deep blue eyes. Like Hinita she wore a skirt, though it only reached up to her knees, however her legs were covered with white opaque tights, and a polo neck covered the rest of her body, though it did little to exeunt her less than compromising chest.

"Where's Keiko today?" Naruto asked.

"Spending his wages getting pissed and trying to get in bed with women; no doubt he'll stumble in at God knows what time and demand something to eat." Sachie replied. Naruto laughed and slumped into a black leather sofa, moaning with undisguised pleasure, he stretched out like a cat closing his eyes. He came a long way Naruto thought.

_Flashback:_

Naruto stood under the gates of Konoha. Rivets of water mixed with tears flowing freely down his face.

"Are you nothing but a monster?!" Sakura screamed, venom lacing her tounge. "How could you have done this?!"

"I-I" Stammered Naruto. " I just lost control"

"I-I, don't give a fuck!" Sakura said, her voice weighted with sarcasm. "Get out of my fucking sight you animal, you were never my friend!"

Naruto looked deep into her eyes, past the soft gelatine, straight into her heart. He saw nothing but malice festering there. Lowering his head Naruto whispered a few words before turning and leaving through the towering arch of Konoha's gates, trying to suppress the tears falling thick and free down his face.

"I Understand."

_Present time_

"Thinking about it again?" A gentle voice to his right, snapping Naruto out of his reverie/

"Yeah."

"Don't; think about how far you've come instead. Captain of the most prestigious anbu squad, and feared by most in the ninja world. It's certainly something to be proud of."

"Yeah…" Said Naruto as he put his arms around Hinita and lowering his head onto of her breasts. She smiled and absentmindedly played with the blonde's hair, thinking about how surprised she was when Naruto asked her out.

_Flashback:_

Hinita had snuck out of her tent on the way back from a mission in the cloud country to take a walk and mull things over in her head. Turning into an open glade of wild flowers, she found Naruto sitting on a rock shaped by the elements, crying to himself. Walking over and putting an arm around him she tried to soothe him.

Without a second thought, Naruto turned round and kissed Hinita so forcefully on the mouth, that the two both tumbled of the rock, gasping as she felt Naruto's tongue flicker against her own, while he ran his fingers through her hair. The pollen of late summer flowers filled their senses as moonlight brushed the couples skin.

_Present:_

It couldn't of been more perfect Hinita thought. Coming back to reality she found Naruto tending over the now boiled over pan of water, when a crash resounded though the spacious apartment, and a completely inebriated Keiko burst through the front door with about as much grace as an obese, drunk man dancing.

"Naruto! The commander general wants to see you, something about the new recruits." He managed to slur before collapsing in a heap in the doorway. Sighing, Naruto went to pull on his anbu uniform and stepped over Keiko.

_Twenty minutes later at the commanding general's office:_

"Naruto, concerning the new recruits…I think you better have a look at the list" The general said. Scanning though the list Naruto's heart skipped a beat.

"Sakura and Sasuke have applied."

"Yes, as you know the captains are to present themselves to the recruits upon graduation, as all identity's behind the mask are secret save only to other anbu members. Here-in lies the problem" the general spoke, peering though his ravens mask. "Konoha knows you as a missing nin, and it is only anbu and the Hokage which know the truth; as a result of this it could produce a problem…"

"Mmm" Naruto agreed. "Though, of course I wont let personal situations come in the way of the anbu"

"Certainly not, your mature enough to know otherwise; you'll have to sort it out privately" The general appeared grave. " We meet tomorrow, I expect you to be emotionally prepared!"

"Yes sir!" Naruto turned briskly around and left the gloomy office, mulling over what he was going to do.

Back at squad nine's apartment, Naruto found Hinita waiting for him to return.

"What was that about?" She asked

"I'll explain tomorrow" Naruto said crawling on top of her. He placed both of his legs on each side of her and bent over to kiss her, feeling her warm breath and the taste of toothpaste inside his mouth. She smiled and ran a blue fingernail down the length of his sine, while pulling of his shirt. Hinita kissed Naruto's neck while pushing her pelvis into Naruto's own feeling him semi-erect brush against her thigh. Tracing a finger over her lithe figure, Naruto reached around Hinita's back and undid her bra exposing her full bust. Smiling he worked his way down, past her lips and neck, kissing her nipples, and still tracing his finger over her until he found the slight arch where stomach curves into pelvis. Pushing past her underwear Naruto felt the faint stubble of shaved pubic hair as he began to rub firmly but softly on the uncountable amount of nerve endings which make up the clitoris. He felt Hinita take a sharp intake of breath before relaxing again.

Her eyes closed, she pulled of Naruto's boxers and felt him in her hand pinching ever so softly on the head before starting to slowly draw back and forth on it. Naruto's fingers moved down an inch further before slipping up her as Hinita took a second sharp intake of breath.

Feeling the warmth of her cum on the inside of her thigh, Hinita lost all romantic intentions and roughly flipped Naruto on to his back, pulling of her soaked underwear. She gave his penis a quick lick before putting it inside her, barely able to contain a moan of pleasure as she felt it throb inside her.

A flustered and smiling Naruto and Hinita in bed, smothered in each others embrace, feeling the warmth of each other against their skin.

"Wanna go again?" Hinita asked purring.

"I don't think I'm physically able right now" Naruto laughed. "I don't half ache". Hinita looked at the clock on the wall.

"Fuck, half two already…We should get some sleep, especially you if you need to meet the new recruits tomorrow."

"Yeah, good idea" Naruto said, nuzzling his head against hers and smelling jasmine in her hair.


	3. Chapter two

"When I call out your names, you will answer by saying 'present'." The commander general said, peering out at the handful of new recruits. Behind him stood the sixteen anbu captains, wearing full uniform and white cloaks with their hoods up. "After that you will be assigned captains to show you the robes. There are two people to a captain." The commander general drawled off the names on his list, assigning them to their captains until finally he came upon the names he did not want to see, what was on the paper was worse. "Hanaru Sakura"

"Present"

"Captain." The general paused "…Nine. Uchiha Sasuke"

"Present"

"Captain nine." Both Sakura and Sasuke rose smiling, to stand behind the now anxious captain wearing a fox mask. "Captains please take your' recruits to the designated training area and begin the combat test."

_Ten minutes later:_

Naruto finally spoke, he had been silent the whole journey. "This test is to simply test your combat prowess, there is no failing this test, however you must treat it as a life or death situation" Naruto eyed Sakura and Sasuke, they where both how they remembered them, though now slightly taller and attired in Jounin uniforms. "Please begin."

Naruto stood there as Sakura started to run towards him and Sasuke drew his sword and blurred out of sight. The pair had both heard that the captain of the ninth anbu squads only match was the commander general and the Hokage herself. Sakura began to furiously attack Naruto with taijutsu, but hit nothing as air as Naruto dodged without raising his fists. Blurring back into sight Sasuke appeared behind Naruto and swung his sword aiming for the neck. Ducking the blade, Naruto lashed out with a kick which connected directly to Sasuke's abdomen and sent him flying back, following the kick with a knee to Sakura's face.

"This captain's really something else, it's no wonder he's considered one of the best in the village" Sasuke muttered to himself running though some hand symbols as a rain of fireballs sped down towards Naruto who vanished out of sight, appearing behind Sakura.

"Shit he's fast." Sakura thought before collapsing from a chop to her neck. Sasuke stared at Naruto standing over the unconscious Sakura, before once again disappearing out of sight. Although Naruto could not see him, he felt the raise in chakra as Sasuke blurred back into sight taking another swing with his sword to Naruto's neck. Ducking neatly beneath it Naruto's eyes widened as he saw Sasuke's knee come directly towards his face.

Using both of his forearms to block, Naruto rolled out of the way and drew his own sword as Sasuke rushing forward to press the advantage. Naruto's sword was simple, though probably his most prized possession. It was a little longer than a long knife, and it's blade rather than being silver was a blackish-grey colour, while the hilt was red and wrapped in bandages. Removing his now dirty cloak, Naruto gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and rushed forward to meet Sasuke.

As Sasuke took another swing to the oncoming anbu captain, Naruto rolled under the blade faster than a cat, rose behind Sasuke and put his sword across his neck.

"It's over." The blonde whispered.

Sasuke smirked a little and cried: "Chidori Nagashi!" Naruto, propelled backwards landed with a thud on the ground, while his body surged with the electricity running through him causing slight paralysis. Appearing behind him Sasuke muttered: "It's over."

As Sasuke's sword headed towards Naruto's heart, he willed his body out of paralysis and raised his own sword to meet the Uchiha's. The clash of metal on metal told Naruto he had been successful and without missing a beat he rolled across the ground and jumped up running through various hand symbols.

In a barely audible voice Naruto murmured "Suiton Suikoudan no Jutsu". A vast shark made from shimmering water came racing towards Sasuke it's jaws widened, engulfing the Uchiha, in a torrent of water and snapping jaws. Collapsing, Sasuke landed with a audible thud on the ground as he realised just how powerful the ninth captain was; to be able to create water on such a warm and dry day such as this was a feat indeed.

"You have both fought well and your abilities are certainly passable" Naruto said as Sakura began to regain consciousness. "Though Hanaru Sakura, you need to be more aware of where your enemy is…Training begins tomorrow and will last a month, in which you will learn everything in order to be successful assassins. After that you will be assigned your team; assuming you live of course….Good luck." Naruto said before vanishing in a puff of smoke, leaving the pair to nurse their bruises. Staring back to the place the captain vanished, Sakura thought that there was something familiar about his hair…


	4. Chapter three

Naruto, Hinita, Keiko and Sachie jumped from tree to tree in complete silence. It had been two days since the fight with Sakura and Sasuke and since then they had been assigned a mission to assassinate the Daimyo of the rice country. With the fall of Orochimaru and the sound village, the country was in a state of complete chaos, and desperately needed someone to reign over them. Muto Daiichi had been assigned; a corrupt man who's only interests were power and money. He had been slowly bleeding the rice country dry, and as a result was commissioned to death by Konoha.

Naruto flashed a few hand signals to the rest of his team and they came to a halt on a large branch. "Night will come in an hour or so, and it's going to rain soon" The anbu captain said. "We need to set up camp before we're caught in the showers. Keiko, go and collect wood for the fire. Sachie patrol ahead for possible threats while Hinita and I set up. I want you both back in twenty minutes."

"Aye sir" the members of anbu team 9 chorused. 

Sachie and Keiko flickered out of sight as Naruto and Hinita opened up various scrolls and begun summoning out the contents. "I had expected to be at least two miles ahead of our position by now" Naruto said to Hinita while he banged tent pegs into the spongy earth. "We'll have to make up for it by an early start tomorrow. It' completely imperative that we ambush the Daimyo and his escort at the mountain pass."

Hinita smiled at her boyfriend and nodded. On a mission the relationship between the two was non-existent; though, on rare occasions Hinita found herself being woken up by Naruto snuggling up to her.

Keiko returned carrying an armful of deadwood as Sachie flickered back into sight behind him. "Nothing interesting up ahead Naruto." She reported a little out of breath. "We'll enter the rice country tomorrow."

"Good." Naruto replied, kicking the remaining tent pegs into the shrubbery besides him. "Fucking things, there's always either one more or one less than you need." Keiko laughed as he ran through a few hand seals and blew a whisper of flame onto the pile of logs on the floor. 

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. We'll go through the plan once again, eat, check supplies then sleep." Naruto said.

"Whaddya' mean go through the plan again?!" A reluctant Keiko demanded. "We've all heard it at least twenty times before"

"Stop being a prick Keiko, with your abilities you have the potential to be a squad captain one day, but you lack patience. Just get on with it" Naruto retorted as Keiko huffed and sat defiantly on the floor. "Right" Naruto continued drawing out a map "Muto Daiichi will be returning from a meeting in the Tea country in two days time. To do so he has come through the mountain pass which borders the two countries, which is where he will be at his most vulnerable so it is there we will strike. According to our data he has an escort of ten to fifteen cloud ninja ranging from chuunin to jounin, so they shouldn't present much of a problem. Hinita and Sachie will be despatching them while Keiko makes sure the Daimyo hasn't got a chance to escape; concerning the actual assassination I will be tending to that. Any questions so far?" Naruto took the silence as a no.

"Good" Naruto continued. "Now, if this all goes arse over tits and we have to escape we'll rendezvous at this point" The blonde said, jabbing a finger to onto a point on the map. "Then we return to Konoha and hope the general doesn't fuck us up the arse to severely." Naruto folded the map. "And that's that...Now how about some food."

Hinita lay nestled in Naruto's arms, their legs coiled together under the double sleeping bag. Finally fed up with Naruto's snoring, she got up and went outside, smiling to herself as the fragrances of night filled her senses and the wind sent a cooling feeling over her ankles. Midsummer was always her favourite time. Her thoughts turned to Naruto, as they often did. She was there, watching as always from the sidelines; as the boys friends forgot about him.

_Flashback:_

Rain hurtled down, as thunder and lightening waged war with each other in the heavens. Naruto stared at Sasuke, his eyes a crimson red and anger howling through his body. Sasuke looked defiantly back at him while Sakura stood at the side, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Never…Insult…Him…Again!" Naruto gasped out.

"Why? He was worthless! A failure of a man, It's a good thing he's dead! He deserved what he got."

A blood red hand of chakra shot out from beneath the sodden ground and engulfed Sasuke, as the Kuubi's chakra bubbled over Naruto.

"Die…"

_Present time:_

Hinita's eyes flashed open, she'd never seen Naruto lose control like that before. Shuddering, the porcelain woman went back into the tent.

Two days later four figures stood silhouetted on top of a mountain ridge, as a procession of wagons snaked their way slowly through the rocky terrain far below them. Wind whistled past the four and a light snow fell. Naruto addressed his team:

"Okay, you know what to do, first though I'd like everyone to draw out a weapon and hand it over to me." A general rustling could be heard as everyone searched their packs. Naruto was handed a shuriken, a kunai and a long knife. "Good." Said the blonde. "As soon as this technique lands, go and assume your positions."

With that, Naruto threw the handful of weapons in the air ran through a variety of hand symbols and whispered: "_ Kage shuriken no jutsu_" A hail of kunais shurikens and long knives darkened out the sky and hailed towards the unsuspecting target.

"Okay…Eh?…A barrier jutsu?" Naruto said in momentary confusion eyeing the purple barrier which incinerated the weapons. "Forget it! Move out!"

Body flickering out of sight, Naruto, Hinita and Sachie appeared in front of the wagon train while Keiko hurried to make sure there wasn't an escape.

"Byukagen" Hinita said quietly while Sachie and Naruto drew their swords and ran to face the Daimyo's escort.

A resounding crash echoed off the mountain walls as a wagon was blown apart and around fifty ninjas poured out on to the battleground. "Shit! What are mist nins doing here?" Naruto shouted beheading the nearest one.

A high cold laugh reached the blondes ears, seeming to freeze the very air itself and sending a chill towards Naruto's soul.

"Oh please, do you really not think I didn't anticipate Konoha's attempt to get rid of me?" The Daimyo chuckled stepping out of an opulent wagon. "Your pathetic village appears to be getting lax in your information gathering" Another laugh. "Kill them!"

"Fuck, fuck fuck! There's far to many of them to beat. Sachie, Hinita find Keiko and retreat, I'll bide you as much time as possible." Said Naruto gritting his teeth underneath the fox mask. "Go…Now!"

"Go!" Sachie said grabbing Hinita and jumping out of the way from an incoming katon jutsu. She spared once last glance back, and saw Naruto swinging his sword almost poetically, removing some ones head from the rest of their body.

"Piss and blood this isn't a good situation" Naruto said to himself before he froze. Looking down he saw a pair of hands made from stone grabbing his ankles, and a cloud jounin grinning maliciously at him. Looking back up again he found himself to be faced with a multitude of weapons at his throat.

"You have fought valiantly" The Daimyo laughed walking towards him. "Five of my men are missing heads, and a lot more of them limbs. I expected no less from an anbu captain. Regrettably however, you have lost, and you are coming with us."

Hinita turned from where she and Sachie were standing, and saw her love completely helpless, with the enemy swarming around him. Her heart missed a beat as a hard shot towards Naruto's neck caused him to collapse on the frozen ground.

"Come Hinita. We can't do anything now" Sachie said quietly tears in her eyes. Nodding with a heart of lead Hinita turned, and the two flickered out of sight to find Keiko.


	5. Chapter four

Naruto's hair ran lank and damp with sweat over his eyes down to his nose. A trickle of blood wormed it's way from the corner of his mouth to his chest. His head bowed, his breathing strained, Naruto sighed out:

"I already told you. I shall not betray my village." How many days had passed now Naruto wondered. Where even was he? The dark room lit up once more as a piece of metal was heated up again, by the roaring fire directly below the suspended Naruto. The young mans arms were spread out wide on either side of him, suspended by rough lengths of rope. His fingers broken and his shoulders popped out of their sockets as soon as he arrived, there was no chance of performing a jutsu to aid him.

Naruto screamed out in pain, as a razor sharp blade was traced along his stomach. However, the flowing blood was quickly stemmed as the now white hot piece of heated metal was pressed against the wound, cauterizing it instantly.

"Will you talk now?" The Daimyo asked wearily, his face stricken with ash from the fire.

"Fuck off back to hell cunt. Your mothers a whore." was the polite response.

Sighing the Daimyo wiped his brow and returned to re-heat the metal. "Very well."

_Konoha:_

Keiko and Sachie placed their arms around Hinita, trying their best to comfort the shuddering purpled haired woman.

"He is an anbu captain, Hinita…He only did his duty." Sachie said soothingly.

"Yeah" Said Keiko, brushing his hair from his eyes. "He would of expected any of us to do the same if we were in his position."

"But I loved him so much!" Hinita sobbed "It's not fucking fair!"

Life isn't fair Hin, we're born, fall on our arses the majority of the time then die. And he might not be dead, we never saw him killed. Just knocked out, he could be held captive." Sachie replied.

"And we all loved him, he was out captain after all…And a damn good one' though admitably, we didn't love him the way you did." Keiko added. Hinita just sobbed harder and buried her face into her hands.

Suchie sighed, it has been a week since Naruto's team nines' loss and word had spread that the captain had been reported missing in action. The various cards and flowers littered the squads apartment. If Naruto hadn't returned in another two days it was anbu policy to consider him dead, and Hinita was dreading it with every inch of her heart.

_Elsewhere in Konoha:_

Sakura faced Sasuke, their blank masks still meaning they where in training covering their faces.

"Did you hear, the ninth captain is presumed dead. The one we fought a week and a bit ago." Sakura said.

"Yeah, I'd like to hear how. I mean he was supposed to be the most skilled captain we have and the rest of his squad wont talk about it. I asked that Keiko guy and he told me to fuck off out of other peoples business." Sasuke replied. "Prick".

Don't call him that Sasuke! I can't begin to imagine what he's feeling right now."

"I guess, though I'm disappointed we wont find out who he was. He was unbelievably fast when we fought him." Sasuke said.

_Location unknown:_

Naruto was slumped against a corner of his freezing cell, the bowl of grey gruel infront of him untouched. He was a wreck, both physically and mentally. Nearly every part of his flesh had been cut open at some point, his fingers remained broken and his arms out of their sockets. The soles of his feet were blistered beyond reason from the touch of the fire that raged un-mercilessly beneath him.

Naruto's thoughts turned to Hinita. Her big eyes, her soft body, the smile which radiated love. In his cell. On his own. Naruto wept.


	6. Chapter five

It had been just over a month since Naruto's capture, and no one had heard any news. The commander general stood facing the new recruits for anbu, the squad captains lined up behind him resplendent in full uniform, save for the ninth.

"Congratulations, you are fully fledged anbu now. You will now become what's known as regular members; this means that you will be assigned missions from me for any of the 16 squads. Providing you keep a good profile and continue to improve, in the future you may be promoted to an immediate member. Again, I congratulate you for making it this far." The general said proudly, the curves of his ravens mask catching what little light the dark room let in. "You will be expected to pain your mask into whatever animal thinks characterises you best" he continued. "As tradition requires, now you are full anbu members the captains will remove their masks and introduce themselves to you. However, as many of you will know the ninth captain is missing in action, and as such only fifteen of the captains will get to know you. If you please captains."

The clicking of masks being taken of echoed throughout the sparse room, as each of the fifteen captains presented themselves to the handful of recruits who managed to pass the training.

"Now that the formalities are over, we allow a 3 day resting period between training and acceptance. In which you are allowed to do whatever you feel like. However, I must stress that the identities of the anbu members are completely classified and that includes you all aswell, so it would be prudent not to go running of and telling your friends. With that said, you are all dismissed." The general gave a wave of his hand, and watched as the members began to file out from the door.

Hinita paced around the apartment in sheer boredom. Squad nine had been given a one month reprieve from missions to mourn the death of their captain, and although the mourning period was coming to a slow end, she still hated it with a passion. Sachie was out visiting a friend, and Keiko had devoted his time of to getting as drunk as possible and asking girls to kiss him.

Hinita however remained within the apartment for the most part, unable to keep her mind of a man she loved for nearly a decade. The mourning period just made it worse, being forced by her own guilt at not doing so to remember Naruto, had caused Hinita to succumb to her grief, made physical by moping around doing nothing. She longed for the day when the team were set missions again so she could take her mind of it.

The flowers sent a month ago had long since died, and Hinita felt that was a metaphor for herself. She longed for his touch, his scent, his breath on her lips.

_Location unknown:_

Naruto lay sprawled against the floor, his body bruised and cut; his soul shattered. The Daimyo Muto Daiichi had long since given up trying to coax information out of him, and had now left the young blue eyed man to be the play thing of some of his more malicious guards. They're favourite game being to tie the blonde up against a wall, suspended high in the air, and treat him like a macabre puppet. Using the robes which bound him to control his arms, still out of their sockets, and make him 'dance'.

Along with the torture, sickness now plagued Naruto's body. Being so undernourished, and cut open countless times, the onset on gangrene, gout, and bronchitis had begun to intrude their way into his body.

Naruto murmured incomprehensible words to himself, the coolness of the stone floor adding a momentary respite to the fire inside his body in the form of a fever.

"What was that scum?" A jailer with a hard face said to him, clutching the mans face in his scarred hands. "I swore I just heard, that you'd like have your nose broken."

Naruto murmured again, his once vibrant blue eyes loosing their vividness.

"I Knew you did." The jailer laughed. "Oi Nariaki, would you care to do the honors of braking this shit excuse for a human beings nose?" The jailer called out to his companion.

"It'd be my pleasure" the man shouted back, his huge form lurching in from the shadows.

A crack that sounded like ice braking, bounced of the walls, as Nariaki's foot went into Naruto's face.

There was a timid knock on the door, as the remainder of team nine gathered to the hallway. The mourning period was officially over, and to their great relief the whole of team nine would be back onto missions immediately. They had received one moments earlier, and had been told that they will be receiving two of the regular members to aid them.

Opening the door, Keiko found the two members, already dressing in full anbu uniform; one with a hares mask, the other with a snakes'.

Ah, you must be the rookies, come in; my names Akita Keiko, and you are?"

"Uchiha Sasuke"

"Haruno Sakura, pleased to meet you."

Hinita's eyes widened, leaning over Sachie to get a better look. This must have been what Naruto had to see the commander general about, all that time ago. Stepping forward, Hinita introduced herself.

"Hello, Sasuke and Sakura. I'm vice captain Hyuuga Hinita; I hope you remember me."

"H-Hinita?!" Blurted out Sakura, looking at the tall purple haired kunochi.

"Yeah, hello. Our mission is as follows, Sachie explain."

"It's a reconnaissance with a twist, remember the Daimyo of the rice country that captured the captain? According to our sources he's hiding out in an underground complex in the rock country. We're to sneak in and map out the base for a future attack. However, if the chance arises, we have permission to kill the Daimyo. A little vengeance never hurt anyone." Sachie said, a glint in her eyes. "With the Byukagen and the Sharingan, it's going to be a pile of piss."

Sasuke grunted and hitched his pack up back to his shoulders, while Sakura asked:

"What do you mean captured the captain, I thought he was Killed In Action."

"Now's not the time to discuss it" Keiko said eyeing Hinata. "Lets get going."

_The rock countries underground complex:_

Naruto hung suspended by the rope tied to his wrists. The Daimyo Muto Daiichi had left him to die in the most painful way his rotten mind could imagine, bored of the anbu captain, and his sheer will not to let any information escape.

At a last ditch effort to humiliate the man further, he fixed is now broken anbu mask across his face, whispering in his ear as he did.

"Do not fret, it will be some time until the blissful release death brings" He smiled; a smile that would make the ruler of the underworld look twice at him. "Enjoy it."

In his mind. Naruto prayed.


End file.
